


Why do things like this keep happening?

by Emma_with_her_head_in_the_clouds



Series: Trouble seems to find me... [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 18:17:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14118135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_with_her_head_in_the_clouds/pseuds/Emma_with_her_head_in_the_clouds
Summary: "Why do things like this keep happening?" Peter thought to himself. "You've really messed up this time, Parker",Peter never meant to end up in trouble. Well, no one ever does. But this was just meant to be a little mission, some minor hero-work. But everything got out of hand so quickly.





	Why do things like this keep happening?

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part of a series I'm writing "Trouble seems to find me..."  
> Please leave comments with any feedback/opinions :)

"Why do things like this keep happening?" Peter thought to himself. "You've really messed up this time, Parker",

Peter never meant to end up in trouble. Well, no one ever does. But this was just meant to be a little mission, some minor hero-work. But everything got out of hand so quickly. He'd overheard a group of criminals talking, sounding like they were bringing in a shipment of he wasn't sure what, but probably something bad. He was just going to trail them, find out what they were up to and report it back to Tony. He really meant it; he wasn't going to intervene, just do recon. But somehow that had lead to him ending up in his current predicament; locked in a shipping container. 

This wasn't the first time trying to shadow a group of criminals had gone awry. Nor was it the first time he'd found himself stuck in a crate.

It was pretty much pitch-black in there. Even with his enhanced senses, Peter couldn't see anything, aside from the heads-up display in his suit.  
"Karen, how do I break out of here?" He asked his suit's A.I.  
"I detect that the crate's weakest point is by the hinges on the side directly opposite you…" Karen told him. Peter threw himself against the wall of the crate. All he achieved was hurting his shoulder. "… But I predict that the crate is too strong for you to force your way out of," Karen continued, despite the fact her information had now already been demonstrated.  
"You could have warned me!" complained Peter, rubbing his shoulder.  
"I just did."

Just then he felt the crate begin to move. He tried to balance himself.  
"What's going on?" Before Karen could answer that, the crate rolled violently to the side.

***

Peter had the vague feeling he could hear his name being called. His head throbbed, and he had a strange cold sensation across his body.  
"Peter!" Karen repeated. He opened his mouth to answer her, but suddenly water filled it before he had the chance to say anything. He spluttered, pushing himself to standing, above the water line. He must have been knocked out temporarily by the impact of the crate falling, but based on the amount of water in the crate and the rate it was filling, it can't have been for more than a few seconds. Luckily he'd fallen partially sat up, leaning against the side of the crate (which was tilted at an oblique angle), so the water hadn't overwhelmed him before he regained consciousness. He fired a web up, and attached himself to the highest point of the crate, but still the water was quickly gaining on him.  
"Oh no! Karen what do I do? Karen help me!" he panicked, "Karen, get help!"

Why had he allowed himself to get into this situation? He didn't want to drown. He'd thought he was going to drown once before, after the vulture dropped him in a lake, and he'd got all tangled in his parachute. It was awful. That time one of Tony's suits had come and saved him. But he wasn't sure what triggered the rescue. It might have been the altitude, before he fell. But now, surely it was too late. Even if Karen had now got in touch with Tony, there's no way he'd get there in time. Not unless he was nearby, and that was unlikely. The water had almost reached him. He had seconds before he'd be underwater. Why hadn't he called for help sooner? When he first got locked in the crate? Before? When he was first onto the lead? Damn it! Why had he thought he could do this, get all the information on the criminals' plan himself?  
"Karen, tell May I love her," Peter begged, almost crying, "Tell here I'm sorry!"

He took one last big gasp of air as the water filled the last part of the crate.

***

Tony flew through the air, as fast as his suit would go. He had the feeling that it wasn't going to be fast enough. He had Peter's vitals, being recorded by his suit, up on the screen inside his helmet. They were failing fast. He dived into the water, just as the suit failed to pick up a heartbeat. He needed to get to him NOW. He started trying to pull on the edge of the crate, trying to rip it open, but it wasn't budging. 

Frustrated and panicking, he grabbed the whole crate and heaved it out of the water. His suit strained against the weight. Water was streaming out of the seams of the crate as he dumped it down on the ground. He targeted his blasters at the hinges, next to where the water was leaking the fastest. They reluctantly gave way and he was able to tear the door open, letting out an avalanche of water.

He watched carefully for Peter, concerned that he would be washed away with the force of the water. But once the original cascade had died down, he saw him, still attached to the roof of the container by his web, soaked and limp.

He tore him down and laid him on the ground, pulling off his mask. His eyes were closed and face unresponsive. He began trying to beat the water from his lungs, then laid him down and started CPR.  
"Medical assistance is five minutes away Sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y. reported. Tony could no longer see Peter's vitals- he'd had to lift his visor so he could administer rescue breaths- but he knew his efforts were so far unsuccessful.  
"Five minutes is going to be too late!"  
"I will keep you updated on their E.T.A. In the meantime, I would recommend you continue CPR; I am detecting your technique is effective."  
"I put a defibrillator in the suit," Tony added, whilst trying to keep count of compressions, "Can we administer a shock?"  
"I'm sorry but that won't work; the water in his suit will conduct and dissipate the charge, making it ineffective."  
Tony didn't reply, saving his breath and using his frustration to power his attempts to revive his protégée (of sorts).

"Sir, I think I may be detecting a heartbeat!" F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced, sounding joyful (if an A.I. can sound joyful). "Continue with CPR, but it might just be working. Medical backup will be with you in two minutes." That gave Tony the boost he needed; he was now starting to feel quite exhausted, but kept going, reassured that his efforts might not be futile. He was going to save Peter. He wasn't giving up on him yet.

Finally he heard the reassuring sound of the medical team arriving, running in with their equipment, and taking over from him. He rolled backwards out of their way, and lay on his back, catching his breath, both physically and emotionally exhausted. He'd done everything he could; Peter's fate was out of his hands now.

***

Tony sat by Peter's bedside, as machines beeped, and the ventilator whirred. Pepper came in and stood by his side, resting a hand tenderly on his shoulder.  
"How is he?"  
"I don't know, we're waiting for news." He paused, then thought. "I need to call his aunt. I don't think anyone's called her yet. I should have called her already. She should be here."  
"Don't worry, I'll do that. You stay here with him."  
"No, I should do it," Tony said determinedly, sighing and standing up. Pepper nodded supportively, sitting down in the seat in his place, and taking Peter's hand.

Tony left the room and took his phone out. He took a breath. This was not a call he wanted to make, but he'd left it longer than he should have already. How was he going to tell May that her nephew might die? That he practically was dead a short while ago? He'd promised her he'd look after him, look out for him when he was out being Spider-Man. He'd failed in that task it seemed. 

***

"Where is he!?" May shouted, concerned and panicked, as soon as she arrived.  
"I'll take you to him," Tony told her, having to walk fast to stay in front.  
"What happened!?"  
"We're not sure yet. He was out patrolling, when he had his suit send me a urgent message to say he was in trouble. I flew there as quickly as I could. He was trapped in a shipping crate which had been pushed into the water. I believe he may have been investigating a criminal group transporting goods into the city, but we'll know more when we've looked into it later. I managed to get him out of there, but he'd been under the water a long time…"  
"Is he…?" May started, unable to finish the sentence, almost crying.  
"We've got the best team looking after him. They'll be able to tell you more about his condition."

They'd arrived at the med bay now. Tony lead her over to the window next to Peter's bed. One of the doctors was taking some readings from one of the screens next to him. May let out a distraught sob on seeing the state her nephew was in; covered in wires and lines, and with a tube down his throat, helping him to breathe. Tony carefully patted her on the arm. Pepper was stood over with some of the rest of the team, seemingly filling one of them in on who May was before sending him over to talk to her.  
"Mrs Parker, I'm Dr Trefold. I'm the lead doctor in charge of Peter's care."  
"Is he going to be ok?" She asked. He paused before answering.  
"It's really hard to say. His healing abilities make his prognosis more difficult to predict. We'll know more later, but the results we're getting back now are quietly reassuring. He's doing well."  
"Well? He's…" She gestured towards him and all the machinery helping keep him alive.  
"He's made remarkable progress in a short time. When he was first rescued, things looked poor. If he didn't have his advanced healing, I expect he would be…" He didn't say the last word, but they all heard it. Dead. If it wasn't for his abilities, he'd be dead.  
"Why don't you go sit with him?" suggested Pepper after a short emotion-filled silence, gently shepherding her towards the room. "The doctors will let you know as soon as they know anymore."

Once May was settled in the chair by bedside Peter's bedside, Pepper went back out and put an arm around Tony, slowly leading him away to an empty room nearby. He looked distraught. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him like this.  
"It's all my fault," he muttered quietly. "He might die, and it's all my fault."  
"He's not going to die. He's a tough kid. And it's not your fault. You saved him."  
"I brought him into all this. I should have protected him."  
"He'd be running around as Spider-Man with or without you. That's who he is. He wants to be a hero. You look out for him the best you can. If you hadn't been, if you hadn't given him the suit so he could contact you, if you hadn't gone and saved him, he would be dead, but he's not. It's not your fault. The only people whose fault it is, is whoever locked him in that crate, and pushed him into the water to die. And you'll find them. You'll make sure they face justice. And you'll be there for Peter when he wakes up." She pulled him into a hug. 

After a few minutes, he spoke again, with more of a sense of determination in his voice.  
"I'm going to go find them. The criminals who did this this to him." Pepper was glad that he was sounding less downtrodden, but worried what he was going to do. "I'm going to look through the footage from his suit, find out what happened. Who did this to him." he continued, "It would be nice if I can tell him when he wakes up that his mission's been completed."  
"Someone else could look through the footage for you," she suggested, concerned how emotionally tough watching it would be for him, after what he'd already been through that day.  
"No, I want to do it."  
"Ok. I'll help." Tony nodded at that, secretly glad at the idea of moral support from his fiancé.

***

"Karen, tell May I love her. Tell here I'm sorry!"  
Silence followed, and Tony stopped the recording. A few tears were running down Pepper's cheeks. They'd just watched everything Peter's suit camera had recorded that afternoon (although for the latter part, there was no images, just blackness and sound).  
"He sounded so scared!" Pepper murmured weakly, her usually strong facade weakened.

Just then F.R.I.D.A.Y. interrupted.  
"Mr Stark…"  
"Is there news on Peter!?"  
"Oh, no…" F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied, sounding slightly guilty (if an A.I. can sound guilty). "I was just letting you know that I've tracked some of the people from the suit footage. "Mr Parker's condition remains the same, although the doctors are continuing to report promising results from their tests and scans."  
"Show me the people you've tracked," Tony told her, trying to keep his voice even and full of his usual confidence.

***

A couple of hours later, almost all the criminals in the video from Peter's suit (plus some more of their associates) were in police custody. Rhodey and Vision had helped the police apprehended them. Tony had been in two minds on whether to go; on the one hand, he wanted to make sure they were brought to justice, but on the other, didn't want to leave the compound in case there was any change in Peter's condition.  
"We'll get them, don't worry," Rhodey reassured him before he left.

Even though Tony stayed, he still didn't go see Peter again. He didn't want to disturb May, worried that she would be angered by his presence. He had F.R.I.D.A.Y. keep him updated.  
"They're going to take him off the ventilator," she informed him, "They're satisfied that he can breath on his own." She paused, letting Tony take in the good news. "Might I suggest you go speak to his aunt, update her on the investigation? She'll have to wait outside whilst the doctors are with Peter, and she'll welcome the company." Tony wasn't sure that she would welcome his company, but he went anyway.

May was stood outside Peter's room looking apprehensive. The curtains around the window were closed.  
"They're taking him off the ventilator," she told Tony when he came and stood beside her.  
"I know. It'll probably take them a while. Why don't we go get you something to eat? There's a break room just down the corridor." May didn't say anything at first, just looked back towards Peter's room, unsure. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. will let us know if anything changes," he reassured her, "We won't be far." She nodded, and followed him down the corridor. 

He made them both a cup of tea (normally he was more of a coffee drinker, but tea felt somehow more appropriate given the circumstances), and fixed her a sandwich. She took the sandwich, but barely ate a bite of it, just rolling a piece of crust she'd torn off nervously in her hands.  
"We're going to get the people who did this to him," Tony told her, "Rhodey and Vision are out there now, helping the police apprehended them." She just nodded. Tony wondered whether to say anything else. Whether to tell her about Peter's message at the end of the recording. But he decided not to; it would just upset her, and besides, Peter could tell her himself, when he woke up.

"You can go sit with him again," F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced, in an extra-soft tone, "the doctors have removed the breathing tube and the ventilator." May flinched slightly when F.R.I.D.A.Y. had first started talking, but didn't saying anything, just giving Tony a weak smile and leaving the table. He walked back with her. The curtains around his window were tied back again, so they could see him. There was still a mass of wires attached to him, and equipment and computer screens around him, but at least now there was just an oxygen mask over his mouth, rather than a massive tube.  
"We've taken him off most of the sedation. So now it's just a waiting game. We'll have to wait and see…" Dr Treford told them.  
"When will he wake up?" May asked.  
"It's hard to say."  
"And… what… what will he be like, when he wakes up?"  
"We… we don't know for sure. We just have to hope for the best."

This whole idea of waiting sounded like torture to Tony. Waiting to see when Peter would wake up? If he would wake up? And if he woke up, if he'd be their same Peter? He hovered uncertainly by the door as May entered his room, not sure where to go in, or to go back to hiding out of the way. May turned around when she saw he'd paused.  
"Come sit with him too," she told him, "He'll want you here." That made Tony smile subtly with pride. He grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to the bed, next to May's.

Apart from stepping out briefly to take a call from Rhodey, updating him that the mission to capture the members of the criminal organisation had been a success, Tony didn't leave Peter's side. They sat mainly in silence; Tony was happy just to watch the rhythmic movement of Peter's chest. He was nearly starting to drop off when he saw May suddenly flinch.  
"Peter!? Peter!" she called, standing up, staring into the boy's face.  
"What's happening!?" asked Tony, standing too, looking concern.  
"He squeezed my hand! I'm sure I felt it!" she told him. "Peter, can you hear me? Can you open yours eyes for me?" After a moment that felt to last an eternity, they saw his eyelids flutter. "Peter!" called May, sounding overjoyed, cupping his hand in her own, "I'm here! Everything's going to be ok!"

Tony stood behind her, watching enrapt, but trying not to crowd them. He glanced out of the window, wondering whether he needed to inform the medical team, but it appeared F.R.I.D.A.Y might already be updating them. 

"M…" Peter started, his voice sounding very quiet and hoarse, "May…"  
"Yes, I'm here, I'm here! We've got you!" she told him, jubilant tears starting to roll down her cheeks. His eyes blinked open, looking for her. He struggled to focus on her face, and his mouth curved up into a little smile.  
"What… what happened?" Before she could answer, his face fell, worry suddenly crossing it, "I was drowning…" he said, starting to panic, "I couldn't get out. The water was rising… I couldn't do anything…"  
"It's ok, it's ok! You're safe now! May reassured him, trying to keep him calm.  
"We've got you kid," Tony added. Peter looked towards him, having not noticed that he was there.  
"Mr Stark! I didn't know if you knew... I didn't think you'd get there in time…"  
"I got your message, kid. I came and got you."  
"You came to save me?"  
"Yeah, of course I did," he said, smiling, "Couldn't let anything happen to our Spider-Man, could I?"

A couple of the doctors came into the room, joining them at the bedside and looking interestedly at Peter.  
"I'll leave you with your aunt and the doctors for now kid," Tony told Peter, "I'll be back to see you later." He left the room with a smile on his face.

Rhodey was stood outside.  
"I heard he was awake. How is he?"  
"He's ok'" Tony told him, grinning, " I think he's going to be ok."


End file.
